Moldova arrests paramilitaries who 'planned pro-Russian uprising'

Moldova has a history of pro-Russian separatism.

December 1, 2015 00:44 IST

Crimea chose to be a part of Russia some time ago and segments of Ukraine, namely the Donetsk People's Republic, have also been fighting to be enfolded back into Russia.

More recently, police in Moldova claim to have busted a conspiracy by members of a paramilitary group who allegedly planned to attack several cities and establish a separatist pro-Russian enclave in Moldova, intelnews.org reports.

The members of the group included Ukrainian and Russian nationals, aimed to create a pro-Russian republic along the lines of the Donetsk People's Republic in Ukraine, Moldovian authorities claimed. The General Police Inspectorate told journalists on Thursday that they began monitoring a group calling itself "Budjak Republic" in October, after pro-Russian supporters in Moldova's Russian-dominated south began calling for independence, intelnews.org said.

The Budjak region is sandwiched between Moldova and the Black Sea with a population consisting of Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Russians, and Moldovans. But following the war in Donbass, the joint name for the Donetsk and Luhansk segments of Ukraine between pro and anti-Russian forces, nationalists in Budjak's Russian-speaking community had called for a united front of ethnic Russians in Moldova and Ukraine that would realise the pro-Russian "Budjak Republic".

Moldovan authorities said such pro-separatist cells have been under the scanner in cities like Taraclia, Comrat and Balti, with substantial ethnic-Russian populations.

The arrests of the alleged paramilitaries were announced by Moldova's acting chief of police, Gheorghe Cavaliuc. He claimed the group wanted to launch attacks against state buildings and to recruit more members. Those arrested have been charged with being members of a criminal gang, he added.

According to intelnews.org, Moldova has a history of pro-Russian separatism. In 1990, the Moldovan region of Transnistria broke off from Moldova and declared itself independent under the name "Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic". In 1994, another heavily pro-Russian region, Gagauzia, declared itself autonomous, but not independent.